Screenplay.com Forums

Discuss the practical use of Dramatica. Have questions about how throughlines should be used, how to create Complex Characters or even the various combinations of the 12 Essential Questions and how they will affect your story go here.

This is my first attempt at analyzing a story by myself. I keep putting stories on my list and just never get to them. This one was played several times because of the season and so, here is the attempt. I tried going deeper, but things get mixed up for me. I am also not sure a storyform can be completed. If it can, it is likely a very short story.

STORY TITLE: White Christmas (1954)STORY MEDIUM: Visual MediaSTORY FORMAT: Feature FilmSTORY LENGTH: 120 minutesSTORY COMMENTS:Christmas Eve, 1944 establishes the back story. A company of men, a retired general, and Davis getting injured saving Wallace from a falling wall, then manipulating him into doing an act together after the war.Starting with the end of the war, a series of Headlines take us through the road to fame and then into Wallace and Davis as a production team.Starting here, getting Wallace a girl becomes one of the major goals in the story. A letter takes us to meet Betty and Judy. Judy learns quickly that Davis is trying to get Wallace and Betty together and they team up. A series of misunderstandings create various problems, but they are resolved when Betty gives Wallace a Knight on a White Horse.At the same time, the overall story is about helping the General deal with his identity in retirement with dignity. This is resolved when he reprises his role from the beginning and has a white Christmas with so many in company that remember his service.The experience begins with a peaceful scene and pans out to a war zone and it is soon chaos. The experience ends with a similar peaceful scene, but pans out to envelop the scene of a company of hopeful families.

CHARACTER DYNAMICS:MC RESOLVE: Steadfast (Wallace is the MC and he is steadfast in his resolve)MC GROWTH: Stop (The audience is waiting for Betty's to stop misinterpreting)MC APPROACH: Do-er (Wallace approaches every problem by doing something)MC PROBLEM-SOLVING STYLE: Linear (Wallace looks for steps in the process)IC RESOLVE: Change (Betty changes)

PLOT DYNAMICS:DRIVER: Action (an accident leads to a decision to pull Wallace out of the way, a letter leads to travel, etc.)LIMIT: Time-Lock (everyone arrives in the nick of time)OUTCOME: Success (the story goal is reached)JUDGMENT: Good (mc resolves his personal problem by being steadfast)

I'm trying to see an OS problem and it seems to be about getting Bob a girl.I'm trying to see an RS problem and it seems to be about miscommunication.I'm trying to see a MC problem and it seems to be about helping out Tom Waverly.I'm trying to see an IC problem and it seems to be about jumping to conclusions.But I was trying to just get the four throughlines nailed down. It is not easy. Is that because it is my first time trying this or is it because it is a very basic story?

I'll need to have at least a complete storyform for it to be useful, right?